PRIMUS and Service-Learning

The following announcement was sent out to members of the Association of Christians in the Mathematical Sciences:

The journal PRIMUS announces a special issue on Service-Learning. Kelly Black, Karl-Dieter Crisman, and Dick Jardine will be guest editing the special issue, inspired by a MAA Contributed Paper Session on this topic at the Joint Meetings in 2011.

Service-Learning connects service to the community with academically-based learning. This is a growing concern on college campuses, sometimes even a mandate, but the mathematical sciences are often seen as a more challenging environment to bring service into the classroom. In particular, there are only a few resources widely available on this topic specifically geared toward collegiate mathematics. This PRIMUS special issue aims to provide a significant addition to this literature, with a number of tested ideas in a single volume as a pedagogical resource.

We are calling for papers describing and evaluating innovative and successful service-learning ideas in the mathematical sciences, at all levels and in all topics. Papers should explicitly address how the service connects to learning the mathematical content of the course, as well as any non-mathematical outcomes. These may include modeling or statistics courses, but we especially encourage submissions involving non-major courses or non-`applied’ major courses.

Submissions will be welcomed until March 31, 2012. Papers for this special issue will normally be around 10 pages long, although there is some flexibility. Supplementary materials, such as appendices and color illustrations, may be published in the online version.

We also extend a call for referees for this special issue, especially those who have some experience with or significant interest in service-learning.